Margate Pride is awarded £123k to honour its transformative LGBTQ+ history in new project
"Thanks to National Lottery players, we can reflect, celebrate and archive the LGBTQ+ history of Margate and Thanet," says Mia Pollak
By Aaron Sugg
Margate Pride has been awarded £123,968 by the National Lottery Heritage Fund to deliver an 18-month project documenting the region’s LGBTQ+ history.
Entitled The Heritage Hotline: Thanet’s LGBTQ+ History from the 1960s to 2000s, it will research archives and preserve five decades of queer stories from the Kent town.
The project and funding coincide with Margate Pride’s 10th anniversary next year, marking a decade since it was founded in 2016 by a small group of collectives: Amy Redmond, Dan Chilcott and Tommy Poppers.
The Margate Pride project will mark 60 years since the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality
The funded project aims to honour older voices in the LGBTQ+ community, from all walks of life, to provide younger generations with a deeper understanding of local queer heritage.
It will also reflect on a time when homosexuality was illegal, marking 60 years since the partial decriminalisation brought about by the Sexual Offences Act 1967.
Margate Pride organisers expressed gratitude for the funding, saying the thousands of pounds will allow them to preserve and celebrate queer history in the region.
“We can reflect, celebrate and archive the LGBTQ+ history of Margate” – Margate Pride representative Mia Pollak on the funded project
As reported by Scene Magazine, Margate Pride representative Mia Pollak said:
“We are thrilled to have received support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.”
She added: “Thanks to National Lottery players, we can reflect, celebrate and archive the LGBTQ+ history of Margate and Thanet, preserving our past and learning for our future.”
The programme includes training, archiving, oral history collection, and a public engagement campaign. A physical archive will be created at the Bishopsgate Institute, with a smaller collection held at the Margate Queer Library & Archive.
It will also include digital elements, with a dedicated online archive hosted by Queer Heritage South and a radio series and podcast produced in partnership with Margate Radio.
Why is Margate historically significant to the LGBTQ+ community?
Similarly to Brighton, coastal resorts like Margate have historically offered queer people freedom, anonymity and escape. Margate is no different, providing alternative queer nightlife for the LGBTQ+ community from the early 2000s onwards.
Census data shows high LGBTQ+ populations in Margate’s Cliftonville West, 7 percent, surpassing major queer cities such as Manchester and Bristol.
Returning to the subject of Pride, Margate Pride attracts over 15,000 attendees every August, and unlike larger Prides such as Brighton & Hove Pride or Pride in London, this seaside celebration is entirely community-led.
Last year’s march saw the likes of Attitude cover star Russell Tovey, Not A Phase founder Dani St James, and Mighty Hoopla director Glyn Fussell all taking part.
Margate also hosts its own Black Pride, marking a significant milestone for the Black queer community since its founding in 2022 by Gaëtan Gauthier.
The town has developed a strong cultural identity rooted in art. The opening of the Turner Contemporary in 2011, a free modern art gallery, helped bring queer creatives from major UK cities and contributed to the town’s wider cultural regeneration.
To learn more about the community-led Pride event, you can visit the Margate Pride official website.
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